As is well known, garage doors or gates enclose an area to allow selective ingress and egress to and from the area. Garage doors initially were moveable by hand. But due to their weight and the inconvenience of opening and closing the door, motors are now linked to the door through an operator controller. Control of such a motor may be provided by a hard-wired or wireless push button which, when actuated, relays a signal to the operator controller that starts the motor and moves the door in one direction until a predetermined limit is reached. When the button is pressed again, the motor moves the door in an opposite direction. Garage door operators are now provided with safety features which stop and reverse the door travel when an obstruction is encountered. Other safety devices, such as photoelectric sensors, detect whenever there is an obstruction within the path of the door and send a signal to the operator to take corrective action. Remote control devices are now also provided to facilitate the opening and closing of the door without having to get out of the car. The prior art also discloses utilizing the operator to turn a light or switch on and off via a direct wired connection. This and other operator-related conveniences are disclosed herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,454 to Mullet, et al. discloses a system for raising and lowering a sectional overhead door between an open position and a closed position including, a counterbalance system adapted to be connected to the door, an operator motor assembly mounted proximated to the sectional overhead door in the closed position of the sectional overhead door, at least a portion of the operator motor assembly moveable between a door operating position and a door locking position, and a locking assembly having an engaged position to hold the motor assembly in the operating position and a disengaged position to release the motor assembly allowing it to move to the door locking position. The system may be provided with a remote light assembly having a switchable light source that senses communication with the operator motor such that operation of the motor activates the light source. The command data for the remote light assembly is not transmitted over a RF media. Instead, an IR media is used which is limited to line-of-sight and the operator must have an IR emitter which is visible on the front cover of the operator. Since the IR is line-of-sight, the operator has no need nor does it create unique nor random serial numbers, instead it reads the state of the channel selector in the operator which can be set such that up to 4 channels can be selected. On the receiving end, the light fixture receives the message and checks the channel to verify that it is the intended recipient of the message. If the channel selects do not match, the light fixture rejects the message. Otherwise, the message is accepted and the operator acts accordingly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,224 to Fitzgibbon discloses a movable barrier or garage door operator that has a control head controlling an electric motor connected to a movable barrier or garage door to open and close it. The control head has an RF receiver for receiving RF signals from a hand-held transmitter or a fixed keypad transmitter. The receiver operates the electric motor upon matching a received code with a stored code. The stored codes may be updated or loaded either by enabling the learn mode of the receiver from the fixed keypad transmitter or from a wired control unit positioned within the garage. This device controls both the operator and the garage light but both are controlled through the motor control board and not separate devices so separate communication is not required. This type of arrangement—by running the light control through the operator controls—causes the light to be responsive to the operator. For example, if the garage door is either in the open or closed position and the light has been activated by the light circuit, when the operator motor is activated, the control board will take the light on function and route it to the time delay circuit and turn the light out when the timer expires leaving the user in the dark until the light circuit is again manually activated. This device uses one receiver to receive the transmitted signal and can activate either the light or the motorized operator. However the light must be wired to the control board. Therefore, if the light is remote from the operator then wires must be run to connect the light to the control board. Because of this wiring issue, all the devices that practice this invention mount the light integral with the operator housing that contains the motor control board.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,442 to Mosebrook, et al. discloses an apparatus for controlling an electrical device by remote control including a control device coupled to the electrical device by a wire connection for providing power to the electrical device. The control device includes an actuator for adjusting the status of the electrical device, and a radio frequency transmitter/receiver and antenna for adjusting the status of the electrical device in response to control information in a radio frequency signal. The transmitter/receiver receives the radio frequency signal via the antenna and transmits a status radio frequency signal with information regarding the status of the electrical device. A master control unit has at least one actuator and status indicator and a transmitter/receiver for transmitting a radio frequency signal having the control information therein to control the status of the electrical device and for receiving the status information from the control device. The status indicator indicates the status of the electrical device in response to the status information. A repeater receives the radio frequency signal from the master unit and transmits the control information to the control device and receives the status information from the control device and transmits it to the master unit. This device relates to the control of electrical devices, and in particular, electric lamps, from remote locations. Even more particularly, the device relates to the control of electrical devices such as electric lamps from remote locations through communication links, e.g., radio frequency links. In particular, the device relates to a system for controlling electrical devices from remote locations over, for example, radio frequency links and which dispenses with any need to alter the internal wiring of the electrical system, i.e., the internal wiring of a building. This device is flawed in that it requires providing a manual actuator at the control device for adjusting the status of the electrical device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,226 to Houggy, et al. discloses the control of electrical devices, and in particular, electric lamps from remote locations through radio frequency links. This device further relates to a system for controlling electrical devices from remote locations over communications links, e.g., radio frequency links, and which dispenses with any need to alter the internal wiring of the electrical system, i.e., the internal wiring of a building. And the device relates to a communication protocol for such a system for providing communications signals between components of the system to insure that each component reliably receives communications intended for it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,637 to Doppelt, et al. discloses a garage door operator with a light control that includes a garage door movement apparatus for moving the garage door in an open and close direction within a doorway. The operator also includes a light having an on and an off state; a controller for generating a door movement signal for operating the door movement apparatus and for generating a light enable signal for operating the light in one of a plurality of on and off states; and an obstacle detector for detecting the presence of an obstruction in the doorway. The controller responds to the door state (traveling open, traveling closed and stopped open) in order to control operation of the door and activation of the lights. When the door state indicates the door is stopped open and the obstacle detector detects an obstruction in the doorway, the controller generates a light enable signal for enabling the light. This device requires a signal from a RF transmitter or a hard wired remote switch to the controller which then activates either the operator or the light, or both.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,300 to Suman, et al. discloses a control system that selectively controls the operation of at least one lamp and at least one garage door opener. The control system includes a control module which includes connectors adapted to be coupled to at least one lamp through household AC power conductors. The control module also includes terminals adapted to be connected to a garage door opener mechanism. A circuit positioned in the control module receives and identifies radio frequency signals, stores control information associated with a plurality of received signals from a remote control in a training mode and outputs control signals for communication over the AC power line and the garage door mechanism in accordance with the stored control signals when one of said remote control signals is received in an operating mode. The control module also includes a selector used to select garage door and/or light control operations to be associated with a signal received by the control module in a training mode. In this disclosure, the RF signal goes to a control module and then to the light or the operator.
Some prior art operator systems attempt to securely transmit radio frequency signals between the transmitter devices and the operator. If a transmission is not secure, then it is possible for an unauthorized person to capture the transmission for later illegal activities. Utilization of a fixed or rolling code may be incorporated into the transmissions to enhance their security.
All transmitter devices—wall station, portable or keyless—are shipped from the factory with a serial number that is recognized by operators. In other words, each transmitter serial number is in a range of serial numbers that are recognizable by operators made by the same manufacturer. Upon installation, a particular transmitter's serial number is then learned to the operator so that a transmission from the transmitter can control the operator. Associating a serial number with a transmitter requires at least one manufacturing step. This may be done by connecting a read-only memory chip with a designated serial number to the transmitter's controller for recognition by the operator. In the alternative, the serial number may be programmed into a designated memory device, but care needs to be taken to ensure that the numbers are not repeated and are within a designated range of numbers recognizable by the manufacturer's operators. These precautions need to be taken to ensure a high level of security of the transmissions from the transmitter to the operator.
In some of the prior art listed above, the control module for the lights is the same module for the operator so if there is a problem with one circuit, it could affect both units. Further, discrete signals are required for the control module to differentiate the command for the lights versus the command for the door. Further still, the lamp is normally activated to illuminate when the door operate command is issued and as mentioned above, once the activation occurs whether previously illuminated or not, the control module switches the light command to the time delay circuit and shuts off the light after a predetermined period of time. This necessitates a manual activation of the light after the control circuit times out. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for more flexibility in controlling lights in proximity to the enclosed area associated with the barrier. There is also a need for the ability to control movements of the barrier and an electrical “load”—such as an appliance—with the same device.
It will be appreciated that the security requirements for controlling operator accessories are less stringent than the requirements for controlling the operator's motor. Therefore, to allow for flexibility in controlling lights and other accessories by the operator there is a need for the operator to also be provided with a serial number to enable direct control of the accessories by the operator. As will be discussed, this need can be fulfilled by pre-storing or randomly generating an operator serial number.